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Interview with Ty Johnston

Who are your favorite authors?

Alexandre Dumas pere, Stephen King, James Gardner, Ed McBain ... I could probably go on, but these are the ones who come to mind. My opinion changes from time to time, but the four gentlemen listed are usually right near the top for me.

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

Yes, I do, but it kind of depends upon what one means by "first story." The first fiction of any kind I wrote as a child, about six years of age, back in the 1970s. It was a comic book. I wrote the story, drew the pictures, did the coloring, and stapled everything together. The title was "The Destroyers," and feature super heroes of my own creation as well as well as a handful of heroes from Marvel comics. Spider-Man was a member of the group called The Destroyers, as were characters called Nova and Rom.

As for my very first prose, it would have been a James Bond novel I wrote when I was about 10. I suppose today it would be called fan fiction. It was bad. Real bad. But I guess it showed some talent for a 10 year old. I still have that novel today stuffed away in a box. Every once in a while I break it out to see how far I've come, and to have a few chuckles.

The first of what I consider my "serious" writings came in college when I was 19, and it came about somewhat by accident. I was taking an astronomy class, and a paper was due at the end of the semester. I noticed the professor allowed students to write a fictional short story for the paper, at least as long as some scientific details were included, and I decided to take a stab at it. The story was titled "Entering Jupiter," and while it did include lots of facts about the largest planet in our solar system, it wasn't a very good story. I think of this as my first "serious" writing because it was the first story I ever sent out to an editor. Of course it was never accepted for publication.

What motivated you to become an indie author?

Money.

Okay, I realize that's not the answer everyone wants to hear. We all want to hear the stories about reaching for the heights of literary affluence and the like, but it's not the truth in my case. I lost two jobs within a matter of months in a career I'd been working at for two decades. The economy was tough, and I needed a job. Bills needed paid. After months upon months of trying to land a job with no success, I decided it was time to publish my own works. Fortunately, for me, this was also at the time the whole e-book and indie revolution was taking place.

All that being said, I don't really consider myself an indie writer, though I do self publish quite a bit of my material. I continue to work with traditional editors and publishers for anthologies and other short story markets. Considering that, I think of myself as more of a hybrid author.

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I grew up in central Kentucky in what is called the Bluegrass region, in and around the city of Lexington. Race horses, college basketball, and good bourbon are king there and have been for a long while. Tobacco and coal used to be kings, but they've fallen by the wayside during the last few decades, though they still remain strong in the hills and mountains of Eastern Kentucky.

I tend to think Lexington did not directly influence most of my writing, at least not to my conscious thoughts. I don't write about where I grew up, though I do occasionally plant one of my horror tales in a fictional setting in the rural and hilly portions of Kentucky. That being said, when I venture into more literary territory, I can see more of a Kentucky influence there.

If anything, my fantasy writings might have been shaped a little by my early days as a role player and some of the people I met who also played Dungeons & Dragons and similar games. Obviously, those early influences all occurred in Lexington, though I don't think they are necessarily Lexington-centric, so to speak. However, the gaming shop I went to as a kid was titled "The Rusty Scabbard," and in my fantasy works I have titled a tavern/inn with the same title. The original Scabbard, the store, still exists as a business, but it has moved on to different locations since I knew it several decades ago.

Published 2018-10-09.

Smashwords Interviews are created by the profiled author, publisher or reader.

This specially-priced set contains three complete horror novels.
THE STORM
A small town in Kentucky is about to learn fear.
THE BASEMENT
A new house, a new job, the future before them, the Dinsmores thought they had everything. Yet dreams of the good life quickly give way to a reality of darkness.
BIBLE CAMP
When young people are sent to clean up an old bible camp, none are ready for terror.

A new house, a new job, the future before them, the Dinsmores thought they had everything. Yet dreams of the good life quickly give way to a reality of darkness as the young couple begins to move into their new home.
For something looms in the basement of the house, something that brings cold, that brings memories and fear and hatred.

13 short stories from the fantasy author of The Darkbow Collection and The Ursia Chronicles. Here can be found tales of fantasy, as well as a touch of horror and science fiction, along with a few stories of everyday people facing harsh circumstances, tales early from this author’s writing career, tales that are not perfect, but pose questions and matters of which to think.

This specially-priced set collects six novels from The Ursian Chronicles.
THE SWORD OF BAYNE TRILOGY
Bayne's Climb
A Thousand Wounds
Under the Mountain
THE WALKING GODS TRILOGY
Where Gather the Gods
A Place Called Skull
Whom the Gods Slay

Warrior and general, Lord Kavrik has been tasked by King Osrick to retrieve The God Sword from the city of Gloriolus where the famed blade has resided for untold centuries, in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy which would bring immortality to mankind. Yet when Kavrik lays hands upon the divine sword, he finds not all is as expected.

For eons they have wandered the world with little purpose, hiding from their own past and the monstrosities which created them, only coming together once every thousands of years for the Gathering, a time of meeting, a time of conflict. It is time for The Walking Gods to come together, and the future of the World of Ursia will be challenged and changed forever.

The time for the gathering of the gods has arrived in the world of Ursia. The very future of man is what lies at stake here. Will the gods continue to wander? Or will they take their place as rulers once more? And what of the mysterious race of Zarroc, those lizard-like beings who created the gods in the first place?

Tragedy struck years ago at Jacob’s Bible Camp, and the scars run deep. Practically abandoned for decades, the camp is now ready to open once more. The first to arrive are a group of young people sent from a church. Their task is to prepare the camp for the children.
They never get the chance.

A string of brutal murders at Jacob’s Bible Camp during the past year has left behind shattered corpses while local, state and federal law enforcement has proven ineffective. Now a Special Forces squad has been called in to take down the killer, Thomas “Tank” Tucker.”
Into this arena steps another, unknown figure. Dutch has his own mission, going after Tank Tucker, and the stakes seem personal.

A year after Tank Tucker’s killing spree at Jacob’s Bible Camp, six people have gone missing. The local police, state patrol and now the FBI are involved, but so far their results have turned up little. They are not even convinced Tucker is alive, let alone that he is behind the disappearances.
The only person to survive an attack by Tucker, Mary Isaacs, has taken it upon herself to lend a hand.

It has been a year since the horrific murders at Jacob’s Bible Camp, but even though the killer was supposedly slain, the church that owns the property has decided to sell. To that end, the pastor agrees to meet a real estate agent and a potential buyer at the site of the camp itself.
Looking around the camp, they eventually split up, and then they go missing, one by one, just like last year.

Sheriff Dean Johnson is called back early from vacation after nearly a half dozen young people are savagely murdered in a camp in his county. With his deputy and the state police lending a hand, the sheriff heads off into the woods in search of a killer.
Soon the band of law enforcement officers finds what they believe is a trail, and it heads down into a long-abandoned mine.

When a group of young people are sent by their church to clean up an old bible camp in the mountains, none of them knows the secrets of the tragedy that happened there decades earlier. Meeting with the camp’s caretaker, they soon learn some of the tale, but it’s only when night falls and death strikes that they discover true pain and terror.

Small-time mobster Jackie Cruise lands out of prison after five years only to have someone start shooting at him. Not one too take such acts without response, Jackie goes on a crusade, a tirade to discover who wants him dead. Along the way he loses some friends, makes new ones, and discovers betrayal in his midst, all while leaving a long trail of bodies behind him.
Collects 5 Guns 'n Money books

Small-time hood Jackie Cruise isn't so small time any more. He's been shot, blown up, battered around, and worse. But now he's hitting back, taking out his enemies one at a time. Now, in the ultimate test, Jackie finds he must go up against his old boss, Roberto Carcinni, who betrayed him. Can Jackie and his buddies survive, let alone win in the end?
Part 5 of 5

It never ends for Jackie Cruise. Street war, that is. He finally avenges himself against mobster Frankie Sardona, and then discovers his own boss had set him up from the very beginning. Not one to take this, Jackie goes on the warpath again, this time tackling the younger brother of one of the Family's top clans. Friends at his side, Jackie brings more chaos to Chisel City.
Part 4 of 5

Jackie Cruise was just a small-time hood until a mob boss tried to take him out. Now Jackie is out for revenge, big time. Leaving blood and bodies behind him throughout Chisel City, Jackie is on the hunt for the man who wanted him dead. But a professional killer has been brought in, and Jackie might be facing more than he can handle alone.
Part 3 of 5

It's tough out there on the streets of Chisel City, and small-time gangster Jackie Cruise knows it better than most. And Jackie isn't the kind to let it get him down. With a mob boss wanting him dead, his best friend already whacked, and bikers giving his new pals problems, Jackie does what Jackie does best. He breaks out the guns and goes on a rampage. Part 2 of 5.

As soon as Jackie Cruise lands on the streets after being in prison for five years, someone is taking shots at him. Hoping to find out who wants him dead, he hooks up with some old pals in the Family and goes to work as a low-level thug. Making ends meet by dealing out mayhem, can Jackie survive long enough to find his would-be killer?
Part 1 of 5

20 short stories, 10 of horror and 10 of fantasy ...
HORROR
Night of the Toys
The Woman Who Hated Cats
SINS
Marooned with a Vampire
Hunting Season
Mercy
Dead Cherokee Joe
Neighbors
Second Judas
Country Justice
FANTASY
Unicorn Hunt
Holly's Chamber
Thus Saith the Lord
Animal Story
Beneath the Wings of Dragons
Glory Days
War of the Four Clans
Wizard's Guest
New Sheriff in Town
Trouble with an Elf

This specially-priced set collects the first six novels in the Kron Darkbow series of The Ursian Chronicles.
THE KOBALOS TRILOGY
City of Rogues
Road to Wrath
Dark King of the North
THE HORRORS OF BOND TRILOGY
Ghosts of the Asylum
Demon Chains
The Company of Seven

A city lies in ruins. A wizard walks into the desert, a weapon of magic in his hands. The gods themselves begin to gather. The stakes might very well be the very existence of humankind. To one place do all travel, the desert ruins known as Skull thousands upon thousands of years in the forgotten past. Within those ruins lie secrets and answers.

A chance encounter with armored figures brings Itidal out of the desert. For thousands of years, perhaps longer, he has tromped across the pale sands, but now he is drawn to civilization in a world where civilization should not exist. To him, men are little more than savage beasts, occasionally gathering into small villages though little more. Now Itidal learns of a city, and he strides forward.

Ty Johnston’s most popular character, the black-clad Kron Darkbow, returns for another trilogy – an epic fantasy of treachery, terror, madness and magic. This omnibus edition brings together all three novels of The Horrors of Bond trilogy:
Ghosts of the Asylum
Demon Chains
The Company of Seven

An undead mage thousands of years old slinks through the city of Bond.
Rising up from beneath the soil, he soon finds himself allied with escaped fugitives from the Prisonlands, a former knight, a pair of assassins and the chief of thieves.
Each has their own wants, their own goals, but the wizard's are the most deadly to the citizens of Bond, and he refuses to be denied his destiny.

Lerebus Shieldbreaker is a warrior with no past and no future. His family is no more, his clan slain while he is a boy. Trained as a hunter, he hides among mountains, tracking those he believes responsible. Originally a five-part e-book series.

Sent back in time nearly two thousands to find the ancient warrior Bayne kul Kanon, Lerebus Shieldbreaker knows no end to his troubles. An army of Trodan soldiers march the land, ready to capture or slay any perceived enemies, while slave traders seek to add to their number of gladiators. Lerebus must get past them all.

The king of Kobalos is no more, but the new ruler and the nation still must pick up the pieces. To this end, Sergeant Lerebus Shieldbreaker leads a squad into the depths of the city's dungeons in order to clear out rumored monsters and to negate magical wards laid down by the old king. However, Lerebus soon finds more than monsters and magic below the castle when an old enemy appears.

Lerebus Shieldbreaker might be the personal body guard to Corvin Verkain, a prince of Kobalos, but what to do when the king himself decides all his children must die? And this is no ordinary king, but the famed Lord Verkain, one of the most powerful wizards known to the world. The only hope is in flight and possible exile, but Corvin will not leave Kobalos without attempting to save his brother.

He has hidden among the mountains for years, but now his enemies have come looking for him.
Yet the Kobalan soldiers Lerebus Shieldbreaker hates are not out to slay him, but to capture him, to bring him before their captain who has a peace offering to make. If Lerebus will only help them track down one of their own, a general gone rogue.

A hunting trip with his father ends in tragedy for a young Lerebus, a figure destined to become a warrior. His family dead, his village in pieces, the young man sets out on the road of the sword, the road of vengeance. This is the beginning of his tale, the start of what made the man who would become Lerebus Shieldbreaker.
This is a short story of approximately 3,500 words.

War has come to northern Ursia. The barbarian Dartague have stormed down from the mountains to seek vengeance for encroachments upon their lands and culture. In this mess, Sergeant Guthrie Hackett finds himself alone after his squad has been slaughtered.

Unfortunately for 10-year-old Billy, his special abilities can't remain a secret forever, and a stormy darkness gathers around the small Kentucky town where Billy lives.
Within this storm is a stranger with powers of his own to raise the dead and have them do his bidding. This stranger wants Billy's powers for himself, and he does not come alone.

The defeat of the barbaric Dartague looks imminent, but once more Guthrie Hackett is sent forth on a mission to hunt down the witches of the barbarians. Now almost assured that the two knights traveling with him know of his magical talents, a crime in his homeland, Guthrie fears not only the enemy, but those who are allies.

A prisoner of Lord Verkain, King of Kobalos, Sergeant Guthrie Hackett seeks escape, but he soon suspects his two knightly companions know of his magical abilities, which would be a death sentence in his native land of Ursia.

With Sergeant Guthrie Hackett ordered to act as guide, two knights trek into the mountains and head for the camp of a wyrd woman, a barbaric witch. What they discover is an unexpected figure behind the recent war, one who has the potential to make matters far more complex and much worse for the Ursians.

A hunt for raiding barbarians turns upon the hunters.
His squad mates slain, Sergeant Guthrie Hackett finds himself alone in the winter wilderness on the border between his homeland and a nation of barbarians. He discovers the Dartague have a new leader, a wyrd woman who is behind the border assault. Worse yet for the sergeant, he has fallen under the attention of an ice witch.

Five short stories from the author's Ursian Chronicles series of epic fantasy tales:
Deep in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Road of the Sword
Six Swords, One Skeleton and a Sewer
Blade and Flame
Kron Darkbow

A murderer stalks the streets of the city of Bond. The killer leaves behind tortured and twisted bodies that have been ripped apart, often after the most horrible of violations. No one is immune to this stalker's depredations, including children. Especially children. It falls upon Kron Darkbow to hunt this killer, but he soon realizes there is more than one culprit, a dark mage at demon in league.

Cursed by Heaven and Hell, the Mage of Many Names wanders the ages from land to land, his ways often mysterious, his goals changing with events and his moods. From ancient Rome to modern Iraq and then to worlds beyond, he goes by names such as Simon Magus, John Dee, and many others. Within this collection are 16 short stories.

In 643 A.D. the armies of Islam have spread across Persia, bringing faith and flame. Seeking vengeance for the betrayal of his king and his men, a Persian officer hunts after a treacherous sorcerer only to discover his target might hold the potential to thwart the much larger enemy.
Sorcery and antiquity collide as warrior and mage seek aid from the far past of Persia's might.

During the early years of the 20th Century, a servant of an English lord arrives in an isolated county among the hills of Appalachia and begins work on a house large enough and fine enough for retiring nobility. For retirement seems to be the goal of Richard Abingdon. Retirement from the nobility, retirement from the world, retirement from life.

With the advent of digital publishing, more and more people are turning to writing as a hobby and as a way to make a living. But where to start? Beginning writers, especially fiction writers, often have a lot of questions. To help answer those questions, author Ty Johnston has scoured the Web for 100 sites that can be of help to fiction writers.

The year is 2003 and the place is Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. forces have invaded and looting has rampaged across the city. Into this chaos arrives a mysterious figure dressed in gray and his companion, a history professor. The two venture into the depths of the National Museum in search of an ancient relic. "Beneath a Persian Sun" is a short story of dark historical and religious fantasy, and horror.

Fantasy author Ty Johnston spent 100 days looking back upon books that have influenced him as a writer over the years. He goes into his memories and opinions about 100 books, one for each day, not all of them in the fantasy genre or even speculative in nature, but also including non-fiction books, comic books, graphic novels and more.

Corporal Lidra doesn't care much for her job in the Bond City Guard, but when an ancient temple is unearthed, she does her duty and leads a squad of five into the depths of the city. What she and her fellow guards discover lurking beneath the streets is the hint of a mystery they might only barely survive, let alone try to understand.

Riots rage on the streets of Bond. Behind the scenes, a core of guilds master grasp at gaining power, deciding that slaying Kron Darkbow would give them more recognition on the streets. But Kron has something to say about that, as do the ghosts inhabiting his new property, the Asylum, where a hundred men, the mad and their guards, were slain during a magical mishap a year earlier.

This Omnibus edition of "The Sword of Bayne" collects three novellas of the adventures of warrior Bayne kul Kanon. Here you will find "Bayne's Climb," "A Thousand Wounds," and "Under the Mountain" in one collection.

Orphaned by the death of her wizard father, a 12-year-old girl finds herself trapped in servitude and traveling to an abandoned castle in the hinterlands. Among the group assigned to returning life to the castle, she finds her only friend in a barbarian warrior. But then he goes missing, and the castle itself seems to be coming alive in a manner most chill.

The year is 2169 and Mars has been transformed into a world not unlike rural America. Small towns. Farms. Churches.
Dr. John Simon arrives from Earth, ready to take on the job of administering to the citizens of Milton Colony. Only the doctor soon discovers those who break the laws and morals of the colony are branded, quite literally, as their punishment.
This the doctor cannot abide.

Bayne kul Kanon has climbed the mountain and traveled to another world. He has learned the secrets of his past, and he has suffered for gaining such knowledge.
He has been broken, the scars of a thousand wounds layering every inch of his body. But he wanders on, enraged.
Returning to the world of Ursia, he forges ahead on another quest, a search for an old friend, a priest of the god Ashal.

Bayne kul Kanon has passed the mountain, but now the wandering warrior finds another world opening before him. Odd lands, odd people and the oddest of rules and beliefs confront him.
It is a world seemingly run by a madman, yet it might hold truths about the secrets of Bayne's past, present and possibly even his future.

Kuthius Tallerus might be old and sick, but as a sergeant of the Prisonlands border wardens he still has a job to do when a pair of exiles escape with help from the outside world.
Leading a squad of wardens, including his nephew the scout, Kuthius sets out in pursuit of the fugitives, eventually discovering this was no simple escape plan.

Walt Johnson has been a rolling stone most of his life, moving from town to town and living on the edge of homelessness. Now he has run out of time as lung cancer has left him only months to live. Walt begins a quest to find the son with whom he lost contact decades earlier. Out of money, he gets a job at a small-town restaurant in an attempt to save enough to buy a bus ticket to find his son.

Bayne kul Kanon pursues a dark wizard across a decade and eventually up a mountain path, and when the path runs out, up the side of the mountain itself.
Why does Bayne seek this wizard? Because Bayne is a warrior without a past. Ten years earlier he woke amid battle with no memories, his only ally the wizard. His enemies, numberless.

20 horror short stories from author Ty Johnston.
Sever, Slice and Stab gathers together 18 tales published in three separate e-books, the first titled Sever, another titled Slice, and the third titled Stab. Also included are two new stories.
Inside you will find tales of ancient evils, modern terrors, serial killers, the walking dead, a touch of science fiction and much, much more.

Survivors of a zombie apocalypse must survive one another. A mage turned biker faces a showdown from within his own gang. An 1880s preacher has his own unique version of baptism. A year after Vesuvius erupts, treasure seekers dig. A woman’s past brings death to her wedding. A farmer finds an unknown, ancient artifact in his field.

Five short stories of turning points. Kings of 772: A group of buddies gather for beer and poker. Cadillac Dreams: She saw him on the side of the road and had to pick him up. Just Like Fourth of July: A mother and daughter's day will end in a way never imagined. Steven Spielberg and The Magic Box: A young writer meets a famed movie director. Lesson of the Samurai: A soldier comes home from Iraq.

Tales of the dead, or those who wish they were dead, can be found here. As well as stories of the unusual from other times and places. Serial killers, zombies, and that which is ... unknown ... find a home within these pages. Will you join them?

Kron Darkbow and companions have survived the mean streets of the city of Bond and the dangers of the Prison Lands, but now they dare to journey into Kobalos, a dark northern land ruled by King Verkain. It is in Kobalos, in the darkest of hours, alone with enemies all around, Darkbow becomes the last hope for all. But to defeat his foes, first he must learn to defeat his own rage.

Book II of the Kobalos trilogy. The adventure continues. After fleeing the city of Bond, Kron Darkbow and companions travel across countryside, over mountains and into the evils of the Prison Lands. Their mission? To confront the infamous Lord Verkain, king of Kobalos.

Kron Darkbow seeks vengeance, and he plans to have it no matter the costs. Returning to the city of his birth after 15 years, he hunts down the wizard responsible for the deaths of those he loved only to find out another was responsible for the murders. That other is Belgad the Liar, a former barbarian chieftan who is now boss of the city's underworld.

A couple on a hiking trip stumbles across death in the woods. A private investigator with powers beyond the norm faces a ghost that won't go away. The crew of a spaceship finds a deadly stowaway. A serial killer's eyes are opened to his true self. A historical figure in Bohemia of the 1500s deals with an exorcism. All these tales can be found within.